Why portfolios? Research and experience show that writers
learn and perform best when they have multiple opportunities
to try, fail, learn, think, get feedback and revise. It can be
argued that the only way to improve one's writing is to write.
A portfolio approach is designed to give plenty of practice
and feedback so that you can develop a wide repertoire of
strategies for approaching writing assignments. In addition,
by giving you credit for all of your work-practice work as
well as finished products-portfolio grading shows that, while
ultimately we must judge the final product, the process of
learning and creating writing is valuable.